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Saturday, 22 August 2015

Review: Hard to Come By - Laura Kaye

Five dishonored soldiers.Former Special Forces.One last mission.These are the men of Hard Ink.

Derek DiMarzio would do anything for the members of his disgraced Special Forces team - sacrifice his body, help a former teammate with a covert operation to restore their honor, and even go behind enemy lines. He just never expected to want the beautiful woman he found there.

When a sexy stranger asks questions about her brother, Emilie Garza is torn between loyalty to the sibling she once idolized and fear of the war-changed man he's become. Derek's easy smile and quiet strength tempt Emilie to open up, igniting their desire and leading Derek to crave a woman he shouldn't trust.

As the team's investigation reveals how powerful their enemies are, Derek and Emilie must prove where their loyalties lie before hearts are broken and lives are lost. Because love is too hard to come by to let it slip away . . .

Review:
I knew I was going to love Derek from the moment we met him in the first book, he is without a doubt a hero, someone who sacrificed a lot to protect his best friend and fellow Special Forces team member and who has no regrets about any of it. Derek has a great sense of humour but more than anything I love his strength of character and the way he is so loyal to his team. He's the kind of guy that any woman would be lucky to meet and it doesn't take Emilie long to realise how great he is. The connection between them is fairly quick but in spite of that I didn't have a problem with things feeling rushed, they're in the middle of a high pressure situation and that is bound to help fan the flames between them.

Emilie is in a really difficult situation, her brother has always been the one person she can rely on to protect her but the man who came home from the war isn't the boy she remembers. He is now secretive, paranoid and jumpy, Emilie can tell he's showing signs of PTSD and she's terrified he might be a danger to himself or others. For the first time in her life she's actually scared of her brother and she's not really sure where to turn to. I have to say I was really pleased with the way Emilie handled things, she doesn't bury her head under the sand and hope that the problem will go away but instead she chooses to fight things face on and make the difficult decisions that are needed. She meets Derek because he is investigating her brother and although it takes time for her to open up to him once he has earned her trust she puts her faith in the Hard Ink team to protect her.

One of my favourite things about this series is the bond between the Hard Ink guys, the banter between them is so much fun to read and I thoroughly enjoy the way that the friendship they share has increased throughout the series as they work to clear their names. Derek has had a lot to deal with and there are times he feels a burden to the team because of his physical injuries but really he's just as capable now as he ever was and the rest of the guys help him to see that. There may be things he can't do now but they don't stop him in the long run and he deserves the utmost respect for that. I don't think it's easy to write about a hero who has suffered from an amputation but Laura Kaye did a fantastic job of it, she takes a difficult subject and handles it sensitively but with her trademark humour too.

This series is getting better and better with every book, the guys are getting closer to unravelling the mystery of what happened to them and they make some very important discoveries in this book. The story is full of heart stopping action, a fantastic romance and brilliant friendships. If you're a fan of romantic suspense you're going to love these books but I really would recommend reading the series in order and starting with Hard as It Gets. I can't wait to find out what happens next!

Source: Received from the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

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